February 12, 2016 1:41pm ESTFebruary 12, 2016 1:41pm ESTIn a world of subjective mechanical gurus who think science is hard, two experts offer a science-based analysis of the most common mechanical flaws.

Author’s note: Part one of this two-part series was never planned. The content from House and Wolforth and the lessons I learned in the writing process made part one necessary. Please read part one (link) first. Part two, the originally planned article, is below.

“Start with the pain,” Ron Wolforth of the Texas Baseball Ranch preaches. A strong advocate of mechanical freedom and individuality in the delivery, Wolforth acknowledges that players with pain, trouble recovering after throwing, or struggling to perform are candidates for specific mechanical changes.

In the eyes of Tom House of the National Pitching Association, pain is typically a result of at least one of three things: biomechanics, functional strength, and workload. He notes that in many cases, “If they have had histories of stiffness or soreness on the front side of their elbow or front side of their shoulder, most of the time the front side is a mechanics issue.” Contrarily, “If they have chronic stiffness or soreness on the back side of the elbow or the back side of the shoulder, most of the time that’s a functional strength issue.” It is the job of the player, coach, and doctor to identify the cause of the pain and make the necessary adjustments, sometimes including mechanical adjustments.

In the event that a player is experiencing pain, poor recovery, or poor performance as a result of mechanical flaws or inefficiencies, what are specific mechanical flaws to target and eliminate? The list below is not necessarily exhaustive, but features seven of the most publicly discussed flaws, along with commentary from two mechanical experts on the legitimacy of these flaws.

Note that while eliminating flaws can have positive effects for pitchers experiencing pain, changing the natural mechanics of pitchers able to throw without pain, with efficient recovery, and with quality performance can present a greater risk to the health and performance of the pitcher than simply leaving them alone.

1. Inverted W

Description: The pitcher pinches the scapulae together so much that the arms and upper torso resemble the shape of an inverted W (yes, it also looks similar to an M).

Tom House: “Everybody talks about the inverted W being bad, do they bring up someone like Don Drysdale? Pedro Martinez had an inverted W. They don’t talk about those guys but they draw from a visual. They draw an opinion about why this guy had a Tommy John.” In the cases when it is problematic, he continues, “It was the mechanics and the timing that was involved in getting the energy from foot strike into ball release, so its not the inverted W itself, it’s the timing that goes with that.”

Ron Wolforth has a similar view and grades the degree of flaws (or to use his word, disconnections). While a minor inverted W does not pose much of an issue, a pronounced inverted W taking place late in the delivery is a disconnection because the athlete must “move that arm and get it back to release in a very short amount of time, and that puts a lot of stress on both anterior shoulder and medial elbow."

2 & 3. Flat arm and elevated distal humerus.

Flat arm description: The throwing forearm is parallel to the ground at foot strike. To those who see this as a flaw, a flat arm is a sign of the arm being late, forcing the arm to cover a greater distance in a lower amount of time.

Elevated distal humerus (high throwing elbow) description: Instead of staying in a natural position, the distal humerus rises towards the end range of shoulder abduction during the beginning of shoulder external rotation, possibly placing additional stress on the anterior shoulder.

House does not see the flat arm as an issue but sees the elevated distal humerus as “a posture issue.” He notes, “If someone is told to get on top of the ball and their natural slot is a low three-quarters, you’re going to change their posture to get that arm up and the elbow would be above the shoulder.”

Wolforth sees these flaws, along with the inverted W, on the same spectrum of arm timing. He opines that the inverted W “is the most severely out of time,” the “flat arm would be next,” while the “elevated distal humerus is the timing is early.”

4. Forearm flyout

Description: As the arm moves forward into shoulder external rotation the angle in the elbow exceeds 90 degrees, resulting in a less-efficient arm path and possibly placing additional stress on the elbow.

House: “I think people are drawing conclusions about something that doesn’t necessarily help or hinder one way or the other…it will snap forward at an angle that will be determined by the eyes being level…forearm flyout is a really cool explanation of nothing.”

Wolforth: “Anytime a body part moves independently, that is it moves on its own in any way that is not in sync or in synergy with the rest of the body you have what is called a disconnection. Forearm flyout is certainly one of those.”

5. Premature pronation

Description: Pronating the forearm well in advance of release. This is often present in pitchers who point the ball to second base prior to shoulder external rotation and can result in additional stress on the elbow.

House: “Pronation happens at release point with all throwing athletes. Pronating before release point…the only reason you would want to do that is if you’re literally going to throw a changeup or a screwball.”

Wolforth: “Absolutely. We’re really searching for a packed humerus, where the humerus is siting normally and naturally in the glenohumeral joint, and anything that takes it and twists it and puts it in odd positions, that’s not good.”

6. Crossing the Acromial Line

Description: The acromion is the small ridge on top of each shoulder and the acromial line is an imaginary line connecting them. The flaw refers to crossing this line with the baseball, possibly placing additional stress on the anterior shoulder.

House: “If their front side shoulder was prematurely rotating then that shoulder capsule would really be in stress because the whole throwing arm is behind the acromion. I would agree with that.”

Wolforth: “Where it starts is the relationship of the humeral head in the glenohumeral joint, so you can imagine if you take your arm behind your body, you can even feel your glenohumeral head slide forward and then that puts it at a disadvantage.” In the pitching motion, “As the shoulder is moving, if you’ve taken that humeral head and pushed it to the edges of that labrum…you put that soft tissue at risk.”

7. Early Torso Rotation

Description: This was not mentioned by House and added by Wolforth, who describes it as “The front side of the body opening prematurely…(which) can magnify a forearm flyout, inverted W, or elevated distal humerus.

Wolforth believes, “The body should stay connected as long as it can and not get unraveled until the throwing shoulder gets past the glove side shoulder.” If not, “You’re now going to have trouble throwing a fastball to the extension side, you’re going to have extra stress on medial elbow and anterior shoulder, and the only way to get the ball to the extension side is to have a posture change and really yank the ball over there.”

Wrap

Although there are some agreements, the disagreements between two of the brightest pitching coaches in the country tell us that it is exceptionally difficult for anyone, even those as intelligent as House and Wolforth, to attribute pain, poor recovery, or poor performance to specific mechanical flaws. Is it still worth working to eliminate flaws in pitchers who struggle with pain, recovery or performance? That is not for me to decide.

Be your own judge, do your own research, and keep an open mind. But most importantly, be right. House and Wolforth illustrate the difficulties in finding an objective right answer, but as these are career-changing decisions for our athletes, we cannot afford to be wrong. We must consider the specific athletic profile of each individual and correctly identify the root cause of any issue — be it a mechanical flaw, functional strength, mobility, workload, or something else. Start with the pain, do your homework, be right, and give each pitcher their best chance of enjoying a healthy and effective career.

Dan Weigel is a contributor at Sporting News focusing on pitching and a high school pitching coach. Follow him on Twitter at @DanWeigel38. Tom House is the founder of the National Pitching Association and a former pitching coach for several MLB teams. Find out more about the NPA here and follow House on Twitter at @TomHouseNPA. Ron Wolforth owns and runs the Texas Baseball Ranch. Learn more about the Texas Baseball Ranch here and follow the Ranch on Twitter at @TXBaseballRanch. Special thanks to Alan Jaeger for his extremely helpful behind the scenes contributions to this series. Learn more about Jaeger Sports here and follow them on Twitter at @JaegerSports.